Natural caloric sugars, such as sucrose, fructose and glucose, are utilized to provide a pleasant taste to beverages. Sucrose, in particular, imparts a taste preferred by consumers. Although sucrose provides superior sweetness characteristics, it is caloric. Non-caloric or low caloric sweeteners have been introduced to satisfy consumer demand. However, sweeteners within this class differ from natural caloric sugars in ways that continue to frustrate consumers. On a taste basis, non-caloric or low caloric sweeteners exhibit a temporal profile, maximal response, flavor profile, mouth feel, and/or adaptation behavior that differ from sugar. Specifically, non-caloric or low caloric sweeteners exhibit delayed sweetness onset, lingering sweet aftertaste, bitter taste, metallic taste, astringent taste, cooling taste and/or licorice-like taste. On a source basis, many non-caloric or low caloric sweeteners are synthetic chemicals.
Accordingly, the desire for beverages containing natural non-caloric or low caloric sweeteners that taste like beverages containing sucrose remains high.
D-psicose (allulose) is a rare sugar found in small quantities in molasses and isomerized sugars. It can also be prepared enzymatically from D-fructose with epimerase. D-psicose contains almost no calorie content and yields less than about 0.2% metabolic energy of the equivalent amount of sucrose. D-psicose is self-GRAS with a letter of no objection from the US FDA. It is currently approved at a maximum level of 2.1% (w/w) in a non-alcoholic beverage. However, 2% (w/w) D-psicose has a sucrose equivalence of only about 1.26% when prepared in a citric acid/potassium citrate matrix, thereby limiting its use in beverages.
Accordingly, there remains a need to develop beverages containing rare sugars, particularly D-psicose, with increased sucrose equivalence.